


At the End of the Road

by huxaholic



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, M/M, Mpreg, Pregnant Armitage Hux, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 06:06:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8193100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huxaholic/pseuds/huxaholic
Summary: Two major things happened at once: Hux's discovery that he's pregnant, and the start of the zombie apocalypse.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3! I can't believe I did this! I'm not sure how well it fits 'meta horror' but I did try my hardest.
> 
> There is very brief mention of Hux considering terminating the pregnancy. He doesn't really want to do it though.
> 
> Oh, it's also mentioned that he's unwell at one point and feels unwell around a particular food at another but I think it's vague enough. I hope it is! Anyway here is the thing!

Hux walked through to the living room in a daze, excited and apprehensive. For someone who was never lost for words, he was having a very hard time finding the ones he wanted.

When he saw Kylo sitting staring at the TV, Hux paused. Something seemed a little off, and his brow creased in concern. Glancing at the TV he saw it was showing some sort of fictional news report.

"What film are you watching?"

Kylo didn't even look away from the screen. The brief chance to distract from what he needed to say had turned into a full distraction, and Hux forgot his earlier concern as he moved to sit beside his partner.

"Kylo?"

"It..." Kylo's throat sounded tight. "It's not a movie."

Hux looked at the TV again, a new, suffocating kind of unease creeping up on him.

"Kylo, that's not..." The word 'funny' died in his mouth as Kylo pressed a button on the remote, the channel listings appearing. It was the news channel. Kylo flipped to another. It showed the same horrifying thing.

"We have to get out of here," Hux said, bile rising in his throat. He turned to look back at Kylo.

"Everyone else will be thinking the same," Kylo said quietly. "The roads will be blocked."

"What, so we stay?" Hux asked a little shrilly.

"We might have to."

Hux fell silent, fearful. Kylo went back to watching the news report and Hux watched him, trying to understand what this meant for them now. He felt the weight of his own discovery bearing down on him, and didn't know what to do with it. It wasn't a reality he wanted to face.

"We'll have to get supplies: weapons," Kylo started to say. "There's going to be looting, so we'll have to be careful, and go sooner rather than later. It might be best to wait a day or two before trying to get out of the city itself. If we have to go, we should pick a route that isn't well travelled."

Hux heard the words, but they didn't quite register.

"We can carry what we need, and both of us can fight. I can dig out the baseball bat from the closet for a start."

Kylo seemed to become more sure of himself by the second, and slapped his own knees decisively before standing.

"Right, let's check the cupboards, take stock of what we're in need of."

He started moving away, and then hesitated. When he looked back, Hux stared up at him, still trying to process what was going on.

"Hux?"

When he blinked, Hux realised his eyes were damp. Something wet rolled down his cheeks.

"Hux, what is it?" Kylo asked, clearly concerned as he moved towards Hux and not the kitchen he'd originally been heading for.

Hux's lips parted, but he struggled to speak. Yet more tears fell and a shuddering sob shook his chest before he finally found the words.

"I'm pregnant."

-

What little hope they'd had that the disaster would be over within a few days was quickly crushed. The epidemic spread and spread, until the whole world seemed to be falling apart. In truth, there was no way to tell how bad it was because on the second day the power went out. Armed with supplies from their own looting mission, Kylo and Hux sat in their kitchen, readying themselves to join the ongoing exodus. Where they'd go, Hux had no idea. The country was the goal. Somewhere far, far away from the city, where they could hopefully stay safe enough.

"Well at least they're not 28 Days Later zombies," Hux said as he checked the list they'd drawn up and carefully started placing items into one of the two hiking rucksacks they'd procured.

"Yeah," Kylo agreed, checking the axe he'd lifted from the fire station. It had been a stroke of genius to go there. All but one engine was missing, the crew nowhere to be seen. Most of the gear was far too heavy to take, but they'd made off with a medical kit, an axe, and two uniforms. As Hux had pointed out, the material was designed to withstand incredible heat, and would probably offer them more protection from attack than their own clothing might. Plus the jackets were warm. The reflective stripes were a downside, but after painting over them a few times, Hux was sure they were no longer visible.

For their hands, Kylo had raided the hardware store for stainless steel mesh gloves. He'd also come away with a length of the lightest heavy duty chain he could find, which would wind around their wrists and offer further protection. There were still quite a few tools they could have taken, but both of them were fine with an axe, for Hux, and the baseball bat for Kylo.

"Do you think the military will get on top of things?" Hux asked, trying to fill the unbearable silence with something. He was sick with tension, constantly alert for a sound that would mean their building had been compromised.

"Hope, yes. Think, no."

Kylo didn't seem particularly talkative, and Hux fell silent, adding some cans of food to the bag and then toying with the edge of one of the books he'd selected. They'd stopped at a mostly untouched Barnes & Noble - everyone had been after food and weapons. Hux had been after knowledge. While Kylo went to look for basic anatomy books and local maps, Hux had considered the maternity second, trying to select one or two books that would be useful in the months to come.

He'd briefly considered raiding a pharmacy to try and find something to terminate the pregnancy, but knew that not only would he not know what to take or how much was safe, he just couldn't do it. He didn't want to. It would be so much simpler without the complication of expecting a child, but there was no way he could change what was happening. He just had to make sure he and Kylo made it.

Looking at Kylo, Hux wondered how long it would be until Kylo opened up again. He hated that he couldn't tell if Kylo's reaction to the news had been a genuine one, or one brought about because of the disaster consuming the world around them. Would Kylo, under any other circumstances, have welcomed the news, or would he still have withdrawn? He'd been reluctant to discuss options with Hux, and there was too much happening for Hux to know how he himself truly felt about everything, never mind find that he didn't know how to word his questions.

He just had to hope it would all work out in the end.

-

Hux was sick and trembling. His clothes were splattered with zombie remains, and he wanted nothing more than to lie down and die. He was exhausted and felt like he hadn't eaten for days. Which wasn't true, but what he'd eaten didn't feel wholesome, and anything tinned with meat in it turned his stomach so badly he couldn't be near it. He wanted to sleep, but they had miles to go yet.

They'd passed by another city, trying to give it a wide berth, but had encountered trouble anyway. Hux was glad to have Kylo by his side. The man was fierce - furious, even. They'd encountered some other survivors, but the mistrust had been too great for either party to talk in any civilised way. Whatever the ragtag bunch of strangers had been trying to protect, Kylo and Hux would never know. A gun and some ammo, probably. What Kylo and Hux had was next to nothing, save each other. The whole time, Kylo had stood between Hux and the other living humans. It was becoming more and more clear that his role was to protect Hux at all costs.

Which included taking an already dirtied rag to help clean Hux off. While Hux stood, shaking, Kylo tidied him up as best he could, his mesh-covered fingers gently stroking Hux's cheek.

"We're through the worst of it," Kylo promised. Hux could only nod. He didn't care if it was true or not - he needed to hear that. He couldn't go on if he didn't think that was the case.

-

Kylo's words were mostly true. It was hard going picking their way towards open countryside, but Hux quickly found the same kind of ferocity Kylo exhibited. He found a deep well of anger brewing within, and drew strength from it, directing his fury outward when needed. The world was unjust, and he was becoming more and more bitter about it. He should be at home, in his beautiful, comfortable flat with his loving partner and enjoying the knowledge that in a few months he and Kylo will be welcoming their child into the world, not snatching whatever few hours of sleep he could on rough, cold ground and fighting for survival in a world that might not even exist come sunrise. Whoever or whatever had caused the shift angered him beyond belief, and Hux found it increasingly easy to fight back against it, and to fight to protect what truly mattered to him. There was no way he was relinquishing his own life, or allowing Kylo to leave him. They were both staying alive, and if there was no peace at the end of the road, Hux would damn well carve it from rock with his bare hands.

-

There wasn't quite peace at the end of the road, but there was something a little like it. They'd used an SUV for the final part, finding the vehicle and also enough fuel to carry them some distance safely. The guess they'd made earlier that things would be worse in towns and cities, and that the countryside might be safer, had so far proved correct. Few living people had come this way, and ever fewer dead.

The village they found would at any other time have been called sleepy and quaint. Now, it was apparently deserted. The shops had barely been touched. It was clearly a seasonal place, and with summer gone most of the residents had been absent. Kylo and Hux had restocked, before heading on.

About two miles from the village, they found what they'd been looking for: a house that overlooked the lake and even opened up out onto it. There was even a boat moored nearby. It was the perfect place to rest.

For the first time in a long time, they both laughed. It was hard to break into the property, but once inside they found it a haven, as if the owners had been preparing for a zombie apocalypse. There were weapons, radios, food for months, clothing for all seasons, and even a generator in the attached garage.

Despite the apparent security, Kylo and Hux still retreated to the attic and withdrew the ladder every night. It was hard to tell how much time had passed since that fateful morning when Hux had walked into the living room to find Kylo watching the news, but it had left its mark on them.

-

Hux spent a lot of his time reading. There was a routine to everything - preparing food, checking the radio and sending out a message, confirming that the house was secure, fishing on the lake - but there was still a lot of free time. He and Kylo talked, and also frequently argued about use of the generator, as Hux wanted it turned on so he could have some ice to chew. The first few days of what they could only call the zombie apocalypse had become a blur in their minds, but what stood out for them both was the fear and uncertainty. Kylo confessed that he'd wanted to ignore Hux's pregnancy. It was too real in a time when everything else was surreal.

Indeed, things still felt surreal. Sometimes, Hux wondered if the whole thing had truly happened, or if he and Kylo had imagined it. It had been too fantastical. Surely it hadn't happened?

But he need only look at the equipment they'd brought with them on the long journey and see the damage to know that it was true. Was it possible that they were the only ones left? Had the entire world been consumed by whatever disease or drug or magic it was that cause the apocalypse?

Hux had never been particularly close to anyone, but there were still people he thought about - odd people, like the work colleague who always burned the coffee, or the cashier at the corner store who tried too hard to talk to him. He wondered where - or what - they were now. The last zombie they'd seen had looked more those in the sixth season of The Walking Dead. It stood to reason, Hux fervently hoped, that they'd soon rot to nothing. As winter approached, though, he wasn't sure how the colder temperatures would factor in. It wasn't something he liked to talk about, as practical as the topic was. Feeling the life within him growing and kicking, Hux wanted to turn away from death and destruction forever. He wanted to curl up with Kylo, both of them protecting his stomach, and let that be the only space in which he existed. The anger that had fuelled him through the difficult first months had faded. He could reach it if he needed to, but Hux no longer wanted to. He just wanted peace and quiet.

-

Both Hux and Kylo had read as much as they could in preparation for their child's arrival, and had set out the things they might need, but it still took them by surprise. Hux had thought he was experiencing another braxton hicks contraction, but when his waters broke, he'd frozen, forgetting everything he'd learnt.

Childbirth was terrifying. Alone with Kylo, both of them untrained and with only very limited equipment, Hux knew there was a lot could go wrong. They had taken formula milk from a convenience store, but Hux carried a bone-deep fear that if he didn't survive his child wouldn't either. He was desperate to survive this.

At the worst possible time, there came a noise from outside. Hux had stopped pacing and was trying to smother his cries with a pillow as labor worsened, and neither of them were sure of it at first. When they heard it again, they both froze in fear, Hux too terrified to cry out in pain.

When it came again, Hux had given a pathetic sob. Kylo moved from his side, taking up the axe that was never far from their side. He took the gun from his belt and handed it wordlessly to Hux.

And then he disappeared. Consumed by pain and fear, Hux strained to hear what was happening, hoping it was just a small animal and fearing something far worse. As pain consumed him once again, he lost sight of everything, his senses blacking out.

When he came to, Kylo was rushing to his side.

"It's okay," he'd promised Hux, reaching for his hand. Hux dropped the gun and grasped at Kylo, more desperate for touch than if he'd been a drowning man struggling for air.

"It's going to be alright," Kylo continued, kneeling by Hux's side but turning to face the door. Pain was for a moment eclipsed by fear when Hux realised someone was standing there. A tall, fierce looking woman in uniform looked down at him. Despite her stance, her face was oddly kind. Hux wondered if he was imagining her. She was clearly not a zombie.

"This is Phasma," Kylo said. Hux whimpered as another contraction started. "She heard our broadcast."

"I'm sorry I couldn't reply," the woman - Phasma - said, taking a step forward. "But under the circumstances, it's probably best that I came."

"C-circumstances?" Hux asked, his mind fixating on the one word. He felt delerious with pain.

Phasma smiled. Her expression was worn and weary, but genuinely uplifting. "It's almost over; the Rising. The big cities are still being brought under control, but it's only a matter of time. It's over."

"It's over?" Hux repeated. He struggled to shift position, and Kylo quickly moved to help him. Hux's mind ran the two words over and over, repeating them until they got louder and louder, brighter and brighter. When he next looked up at Kylo, the tears falling were ones of happiness and relief. The pain he was in was still terrible, but no longer unbearable.

Smiling at Kylo, Hux gave a sigh of relief, the wonderful truth sinking in.

"It's over."

-

Their daughter was born just over an hour later, into a world that once again had a future.


End file.
